The short-term goals of Meharry Medical College's animal resource program are to furnish humane care for research animals, provide efficient service for investigators, and comply with federal guidelines and the standards of accrediting agencies. The long-term goal is to expand the program at a rate commensurate with research development at the college. To help the program reach these goals, this application proposes to improve the care of experimental animals at Meharry Medical College by installing an autonomous heating and air conditioning system in the Animal Care Facility (ACF). Presently ACF relies on the college's central system to heat and cool the air in the animal quarters. The centralized, campus-wide design of this system and the energy conservation, cost-cutting programs of the school often result in inadequate temperature and humidity control in ACF. Both AAALAC and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) have commented on the basic inadequacy of temperature regulation in the facility. The improvement proposed in this application will benefit all users of ACF and insure that the facility complies with federal regulations.